OMG!!!! I can't believe your doctor actually said that!!!!! OCD indeed, where did he go to medical school? Drop this jerk and find another that will listen.

I did exactly the same as you, I wrote a big long list of my symptoms (I knew I'd forget half of them if I didn't)... As soon as I got the paper out, my doc smiled and told me how he wished more of his patients would do the same.

I've read you posts, your symptoms strongly move in the direction of an adrenal issue and hypothyroidism. Did you get those blood tests done that Jav posted? I didn't see if you posted any results?

Don't give up, I had the same symptoms as you for 18 years, doctors telling me it was all in my head, precribing me anti-depressants, telling me I'm stressed, one saying I had PMDD??????? Well, they were all wrong, I had the full blood screening for adrenals and Hypothyroid, and guess what... I have adrenal fatigue, I had very low Vit B12, Vit D, Vit C, Magnesium and extremely low estrogen levels... My Reverse T3 was off the chart, all thyroid related!!!

I've read you posts, your symptoms strongly move in the direction of an adrenal issue and hypothyroidism. Did you get those blood tests done that Jav posted? I didn't see if you posted any results?

Thanks so much for your support.

Regarding your question, no I have not had these blood tests done yet. This is my question: do I need to ask a doctor to request them, or can I go to a lab and have them done for me directly?
What kind of lab could I consult for this?

Sorry if it sounds silly, but all this is new to me. No idea where to start.

See if your (hopefully new) doc will order the tests for you, with the exception of the saliva cortisol that should be pretty easy. If you want results soon or don't mind paying out of pocket you can order lab tests online and then go to a local lab to have the blood drawn. Just be sure you are getting the exact tests I specified (TSH, Free T3, Free T4, TPO antibodies, TG antibodies and vitamin D, B12, ferritin) as there are a slew of pretty useless thyroid tests out there. The saliva cortisol you will need to order online.

You need to go to a Lyme Literate Dr. ASAP and have them send your bloodwork to Igenex lab, or Fry lab in Scottsdale Az. Your symptoms are extremely familiar to me!! Non-restorative sleep disorder, headaches, brain fog fatigue! There is no vaciene for lyme disease! Lab corp Lyme tests are worthless!! You need a LLMD to work with you, Please let me know.

I explored the Lyme option early on.
When I first felt these symptoms, I had reason to believe it was Lyme, since I was very active in outdoor sports.

All tests seemed to come out negative, plus I never got the severe joint pain that Lyme patients experience. Joints don't seem to bother me much.
I even met a Lyme literate doctor that prescribed tons of antibiotics in hopes that, if it was a non-diagnosed case of Lyme, it would kill the bug.

Between 1998 and 2002 I took heavy doses of antibiotics, in 4 month intervals (Ceftin, Amoxycilin, Cipro, doxy, you name it). It didn't quite make a difference at all. Here we are 12 years later, and the same symptoms are on.

One of my doctors even inoculated me with Lymerix (early vaccine for Lyme disease) in the year 2000, after I begged them to try, just to see if it would make a difference. It didn't.

Now the problem is that since I was given that early Lyme disease vaccine, if they perform a blood test now, they'll see antibodies for Lyme. All tests prior to that one came out negative for Lyme.

Julius, what I had to do was pay out of pocket for the bloodwork, I had a ton of it done and it cost $2000, but a lot of labs give you a 50% discount if you pay cash on the day. I would most definately have those tests done that Jav posted, they'll check your antibodies, adrenals and thyroid... would also get a reverse T3 test too. All my results always come back within normal range except my cortisol and vitamin levels.
Good luck, keep us posted.

Wow, that sounds very interesting. I've been looking at some of the online labs that other folks have suggested. The prices sure are outrageous. If you don't mind, maybe you can point to me how to do this (you can email me directly).

Can you just walk to a lab and request your tests, or you have to go through the online testing website and order the tests first?

I had almost the exact same situation. I even had a sinus infection for a year which resulted in surgery. Still ended up with a sinus infection after surgery. I kept telling the doctors that it felt like everything was swollen in my nose and ears. I had all the brain fog, exhaustion, weight gain. I started having vision problems, joint pain and sometimes had no control over my balance. I got tested for everything under the sun and everything came back normal. It got to the point that when I would leave for yet another doctor's appointment, my co-workers would say, "Good luck--I hope your tests don't come back normal!". After three years of this, I asked for copies of everything and started looking up all my test results that were near the high or low end of normal. My TSH was 4.44 and the top of the normal limit was 4.5--eureka! I got myself to an awesome endocrinologist and he told me within the first 3 minutes that I might have a problem with my thryoid and that even though my result was in the normal range it wasn't normal for a 42 year old woman. After taking Synthroid for a few months, I got on Armour and all my symptoms went away. It's been a year and a half and I haven't had one sinus infection. I lost 20 pounds doing nothing different. It's amazing--until I got sick, I had no idea how important your thyroid was! Now I feel perfectly normal and it's almost hard to believe that I was as sick as was.

Julius, I found a doctor who requested the full lab work, he's a private doctor, so I'm a paying customer so to speak. I'm sure you can request your needed blood tests should you pay for them. I'm not entirely sure how it works without a doctor. You can always call and ask your doctor will he do it if you pay yourself, or even call the lab or local clinic.
Somewhere on here is a complete list of the blood tests I had done, it can be expensive, but it's truly worth every cent.

I went back and found the list, here it is.
http://www.healthboards.com/boards/showthread.php?t=718514

i have the symptoms you mentioned in your first post too. i am hypo thyroid.....i see a natural path md doctor who orders all the required blood work i need. all that is covered by my insurance i usually only have to pay about 300 and i know the bloodwork cost about1500 to 2000...bc the lab ladies are always like...she sure did order a large panel. my doctor does not take insurance i hve to submit that myself but the good news is the bloodwork is covered by my insurance...find a doctor who will run a panel on all that javelina posted....these symptoms will not go away without medication. and you are taxing your adrenals without the proper care. one explanation to your feeling good in one place and horrible in another is...stress. i know that i was sumbfounded when this happened to me the week i went to the beach..thursday was the best day of all- no syptoms at all...it was the craziest thing..i have been sick for 4 years..day in and day out.. i told my husband it was such a stress free week and the sea salt in the water probably gave my adrenals what they needed. back to the grind the next week and i felt hypo all over again. stress plays a huge part in this...you also may be sensitive to something environmental in ny . but it does sound that you are hypo to me.

I really don't know what it is, but from all the descriptions I've read, the one that approximates my symptoms the closest is a Hypothyroid condition, but it doesn't quite explain the severe sinus congestions. Either the sinus/allergies are part of this whole syndrome, or they are a red herring that's not related and throwing me into a spin.

Of all the symptoms from this nightmare, the ones that disturb me the most are the neurological ones: brain fog, memory loss, mental sluggishness. It's truly horrible. Pain I can deal with, but this cognitive dysfunction is something I was not prepared to face. When it is at its worst, I can't even form complete sentences, or confuse words for no reason. For instance, last week I said several times "March" when I was convinced I was saying "November". This was in a business meeting. People thought I was either drunk or mental.

Another disturbing effect is forgetting the topic of a conversation... in the middle of a conversation. In mid-sentence I forget what I was talking about, and I'm left there, stumbling to figure out what to say next.

Memory is the worst, though. Short term memory is gone for good. I have completely lost it. Long term memory fades one and off. I can remember the silliest things, but forget names of relatives, of places I've lived, or things I've done, movies I've seen, books I've read, people I've known. It's torture. It's pure torture, and I don't know what I need to be normal again.

I look forward my trips though, because I know when I visit California o Spain, I'm normal (or as close to it as I can get) for a few days. During those days I'm lucid. I catch up with important things in my life. I suddenly can read without struggling, and finish several books in no time. I write again, and things make sense. The fog disappears, and then I'm whole. Most importantly, in those small windows of time when I'm lucid, I put together long lists of important "TO DOs", lists of things I really need to do, but that the brain-fog and memory issues make me forget.

Then, when I come back to New York, I'm able to get to a few of those items in the list... until the brain fog sets in, and then I live a day for a day, trying to catch up at work, hiding my illness from my coworkers the best I can. Deep in the sluggishness and lethargy... This is no way to live, frankly. As I said in a previous post, I feel like I lost the last 10 years of my life to this thing... whatever the heck it is.

I have all of the above. That is funny, when I suffered Hypo for 4 years in Jersey I was fine. Had an endo, no side affects at all. Moved to Florida 4 years ago now and I have all those side affects you have, along with a constant aching brain headache that feels wierd. It makes me dizzy also. This is horrible. It almost makes me not able to function. I sleep at midnight and am beat tired but wakeup all the time at 5am and then have a probel going back to sleep. I wish I could explain it all. My son and everyone think I have alzheimers, that is how bad it is sometimes. I am talking and cannot remember the person name of the subject.....terrible. Is this all hypohell?

julius, i will tell you that when i went ot my doctor a nd told her my symptoms that she wanted me to run an alcat test allergy test on me. when i went autoimmune, all i understand is that my body attacked itself..and did not recognize even the healthy stuff that i was eating and it would make me feel very bad. my symptoms were different but you can have a multitude of different symptoms and so , yes you can have allergies. my panel was about 400 and it tested for everyday foods and molds, and pharmacuetical agents.. you should get an allergy test done and then i recommend you stay away from those things ... she said after 7 months i could try to reintroduce it to my system...but i have stayed away from pastries and all the yummy stuff. since i struggle with my weight and never have in the past i am careful what i put in...plus my bromide toxicity was pretty high and so i am careful about the bleached flour and just don't let it enter my mouth. there are supplements i have been taking for about 2 years that help digestion and i don't think i have developed any new sensitivities...something you should look into. also, my doctor has me doing the sea saltwater up the nose and you would be surprised morning and night how beneficial that is. especially if you do it regularly. jsut sharing my experience

I have every symptom that you exhibit except for the scalp. I do have severly dry skin and will get welts if I do not manage it. I have been through so many tests and allergy tests. I did result in severe allergy symptoms, but I almost died three times from the allergy shots. There are no medications that manage the symptoms for me and I am at a loss. I really empathize with your plight and hope you can find an answer. I also thought it was really weird that u wanted to pursue your education because that is exactly what im doing now. FYI i am doing well in spite of the persistent foggyness. good luck.